§ 1.1 Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns inputting and entering control instructions in data forwarding devices, such as routers for example. More specifically, the present invention concerns reusing information from previously executed control instructions for such a device.
§1.2 Related Art
The description of art in this section is not, and should not be interpreted to be, an admission that such art is prior art to the present invention. The present invention may be used for inputting control instructions for data forwarding devices.
Data forwarding devices, such as routers and switches, may be interconnected to form networks. The interconnections may be such that each data forwarding device has a plurality of input lines and a plurality of output lines. A basic function of these devices is to forward data received at their input lines to the appropriate output lines. Routers, for example, may determine the appropriate output lines based on a destination addresses contained in the received data and forwarding tables. Switches may be configured so that data received at input lines are provided to appropriate output lines.
Such data forwarding devices may need to be configured appropriately. This may be done by entering configuration commands, through a keyboard or other type of interface, into a data forwarding device. For example, a control instruction interface may be provided for configuring operating system software, configuring the device, and monitoring and/or troubleshooting software, network connectivity, and/or hardware. Other types of information or commands may also be entered into the device through the keyboard or interface.
When entering a command or information through a keyboard (or similar user interface) of a data forwarding device, there is a risk that the command or information may be entered incorrectly or incompletely. Such errors may cause the data forwarding device to be incorrectly configured and may lead to serious network malfunctions. This is especially true where the commands or information involve long strings of commands and complex number sequences.
Accordingly, there is a need to reduce the risk that commands or information will be entered incorrectly or incompletely.